


From the Germanic Hrodebert Meaning “Bright Fame”

by rippedpageandpetals



Series: That Old Passport Photograph [2]
Category: Franz Ferdinand (Band)
Genre: Character Study, Friendship/Love, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 05:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18515083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rippedpageandpetals/pseuds/rippedpageandpetals
Summary: Just about everyone calls him Bob.





	From the Germanic Hrodebert Meaning “Bright Fame”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr in December 2013.
> 
> It was gonna be three drabbles. The old muse had different ideas.

Just about everyone calls him Bob.  
  
Paul is no different.  
  
*  
  
He had a girlfriend at eighteen who called him Bobby. He liked it until he caught her in bed with his best mate. After that, whenever he heard it he would be brought back to that moment and could practically hear her voice. “Bobby, please, I’m sorry.”  
  
His heart would break all over again.  
  
When they met Nick, it was as if the two had known each other forever. There was an immediate intimacy and familiarity between them that allowed Nick an access he gave few others. Only Nick could greet him with an unexpected bear hug, an affectionate ruffle of his hair, or a gleeful, “’Ey, Bobby!” and receive a loving smile instead of a scowl.  
  
Nick makes him feel safe.  
  
*  
  
Before Alex, the only people to call him Robert were his mother and disappointed teachers. The sound made him cringe. Repeated enough, it felt foreign, removed entirely from his true self. He hated hearing his name used as a weapon.  
  
Then he heard it coated in the slow honey of Alex’s voice as it left his fond smile.  
  
Fuck, love, adore. My and yours. Words and phrases transformed and made real by Alex’s adoring gaze, gentle hands, and purr in his ear. But none more changed than his own name, whispered over and over like a desperate prayer as Alex’s wanting body writhed and arched beneath him.  
  
Alex is there when he calls.


End file.
